Supreme Court refuses to revive forgery case filed by Anchor against Colgate

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court ruling that quashed a forgery case filed by toothpaste manufacturer, Anchor against its rival Colgate [Anchor Health and Beauty Care Pvt Ltd vs Colgate Palmolive and ors etc].

A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and R Mahadevan dismissed the appeal filed by Anchor in this regard.

"We do not find any reason to interfere with the orders impugned in these petitions. The present petitions are, accordingly, dismissed," it said.

Colgate and Anchor have been involved in legal disputes over the use of red and white coloured trademark for their toothpaste.

Anchor alleged that after Colgate failed to get an interim injunction order, it forged certain documents (trademark registration documents) and filed a suit in the Delhi High Court claiming fresh cause of action.

Anchor filed the complaint against Colgate and its office bearers before a trial court alleging that they have committed offences under Sections 191, 193, 196, 199, 200 and 209 (offences related to forging of documents and making false claims before court) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A magistrate initially issued summons to Colgate and its office bearers, after prima facie finding that the copy of the certificate of registration of trademark and the certified copy of the certificate for use in legal proceedings were forged.

However, the Delhi High Court later quashed the complaint case and the magistrate court's summoning order of April 2, 2012, finding that there was nothing to suggest that Colgate had committed an offence.

This led to Anchor's appeal before the Supreme Court, which was dismissed yesterday.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Arvind Verma and Sidharth Luthra with Advocates Saif Khan, Achutan Sreekumar, Rishi Agrawala, Niyati Kohli, Pratham Vir Agarwal, and Smridhi Sharma appeared for Colgate and its office bearers.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh with Advocates Anurag Ahluwalia, Mayur Gala, Jasdeep Singh Dhillon, Anirudh Jamwal and Yutangar Singh Chauhan, briefed by a team from MPS Legal, appeared for Anchor.

[Read order]